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A WALK IN THE WOODS

Bill Bryson (yep, that author guy) embarks on a midlife madness mission to

trek the Appalachian Trail. When no one is crazy enough to join him, it seems

the only companion will have to be an estranged, out-of-shape ‘ol pal’ in the

shape of Nick Nolte. Cue hijinks and emotional revelations (but of course!).

The über successful Bryson’s tales of observationalist woe and love are a joy

to behold; this being his first semi-autobiographical tale, with Redford playing

the soft-spoken man of letters,

A Walk in the Woods

promises much, and

delivers safety in spades. Sure, it’s a joy to see Nolte as the frazzled Stephen

Katz, the only pal crazy enough to accept the challenge of a gazillion-mile

trek well past middle-age. And Redford, solid as a rock, believable as hell,

and endearing with his facial expressions alone, does wonders for the profile

and scope of a simple tale for a global audience. That it seems somewhat

by-the-numbers after a hysterical start (we witness Bryson being interviewed

by a mindless brekky TV host) is a shame to the depth of Bryson’s actual

prose. Still, it looks a treat and the trail itself is awe-inspiring on the big

screen.

You won’t learn more about life, or love for that matter, but you’ll be

slightly titillated at the prospect that Nolte is still a coherent actor with much

more to offer the screen.

Chris Murray

PIXELS

Two buddies who conquered the video arcades of the ‘80s are now unlikely

heroes against an alien invasion where all the characters from the famous 8-bit

world are sent to Earth to destroy it. Yes, Pacman, Galaga, et al. But is

Pixels

as bad as you've heard? Not really.

Mall Cop

Kevin James plays the President

of the United States (yes, think about that) and Adam Sandler, is, as always,

a weirdly violent sap trying to rekindle his manhood however he can. That it’s

directed by Chris Columbus (

Mrs Doubtfire

,

Home Alone

) is just a maddening

prospect!? When a time-capsule of ‘80s pop culture is jettisoned into space

only to be misinterpreted as a war declaration, and aliens decide to fight with

larger-than-life 8-bit technology, you kinda get the idea nothing here is remotely

serious at all – and you know what, there’s a lot to like about this idea.

However, there’s not a lot to like about anyone’s performance, or the lacklustre

use of the '80s motifs on offer (save the idea aliens communicate with us

through manipulating ‘80s TV footage, that IS funny). If you’re about 6 or 7,

you’ll love it, but sadly, most kids couldn’t give a rat’s as they're all too busy

online playing Minecraft. As for Gen-X, who understand all the references, it’s

not going to rekindle much love of the lost; perhaps only more anger towards

Sandler. Again, maybe that’s not a bad thing?

Chris Murray

visit

stack.net.nz

REVIEWS

CINEMA

RELEASED:

Sept 3

DIRECTOR:

Ken Kwapis

CAST:

Robert Redford,

Mary Steenburgen, Nick Nolte

RATING:

M

RELEASED:

Sept 24

DIRECTOR:

Chris Columbus

CAST:

Adam Sandler, Kevin

James, Peter Dinklage

RATING:

PG

RATING KEY:

Wow!

Good

Not bad

Meh Woof!

VACATION

One could describe Jonathan Demme (

Silence of the Lambs

,

Neil Young:

Heart of Gold

,

Stop Making Sense

,

Philadelphia

) as a unique director.

Clearly torn between his aural and visual artistic needs, this seems like the

perfect vehicle to show off what he’s learnt with stage-shooting the likes

of Talking Heads and Neil Young, and thus translate this skill to drama via

Streep as his sonic muse. It kinda works... just. While Streep’s somewhat

scattered rock-chick-chic is believable to a fault, and the presence of Rick

Springfield (seriously, the best thing in this film) elevates plausibility even

further, it’s the ‘oh, everything seems to work out so damn easy’ nature of

the narrative itself that drags Ricki into midday TV territory. Its girrrl scribe,

Diablo Cody (

Juno

,

Jennifer’s Body

), has delivered a mediocre tale to be

told by extraordinary storytellers, it would seem. Thus another reason that

Demme decides to show complete performances of Ricki and band in a

typical US pro-troops watering hole, rather than develop any plot – cos

there really isn’t anything deeper here than an episode of Oprah.

No matter. What does happen, owing to the extraordinary talent (Kline is

also refreshing as the torn-between-two-mums dad) involved, one walks

away feeling better. Not deeper, just a little happier.

Chris Murray

RELEASED:

Now Showing

DIRECTOR:

Jonathan Demme

CAST:

Meryl Streep, Kevin

Kline, Rick Springfield

RATING:

PG

When budget airline pilot Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) announces he’s

upholding the family holiday tradition begun by dad Clark in the ‘80s, his

young son replies, “I’ve never heard of the original vacation” (echoing

the target audience). To which Rusty responds, “Doesn’t matter, the new

vacation will stand on its own.” And this fitfully funny sequel-cum-reboot to

the comedy franchise almost does, but still relies heavily on familiarity with

the Chevy Chase original. Lowbrow humour has evolved (or devolved?) in

the decades since the Griswolds first hit the road, so the new

Vacation

takes its cues from the gross-out likes of

The Hangover

,

Horrible Bosses

,

et al. Strapping dead grandma to the roof-rack is so 1983 now, and on this

holiday road the misadventures include bathing in raw sewage, a vomitous

stop at a sorority house, an exploding cow, and more dick jokes than a guy

named Richard. Curiously, it’s the less vulgar moments that are the most

amusing – a running gag involving the Griswolds’ dodgy Albanian rental

car, and a clever scene in which four different state troopers argue over

who’ll arrest Rusty and wife for attempting to have sex on the Four Corners

Monument. But once you realise you’ve already seen the best bits in the

trailer,

Vacation

becomes a road-trip to nowhere.

Scott Hocking

RELEASED:

Now Showing

DIRECTOR:

John Francis Daley, Jonathan M.

Goldstein

CAST:

Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Chris Hemsworth

RATING:

R13

RICKI AND THE FLASH

38

jbhifi.co.nz

SEPTEMBER

2015